West Ham produced a spirited performance in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Aston Villa, with much of the match statistics favouring Graham Potter’s side.
Potter was limited with attacking options once more going into the game, opting to go with Mohammed Kudus and Lucas Paqueta as the focal point in the final third.
Despite having no recognised striker in the starting 11, the hammers were certainly not overrun in the game, having 54% possession, as well as more touches and more passes than their opponents.
They also equalled Aston Villa’s shots and shots on target in the game, which is a testament to Potter’s side against a team who have lost just one game at home in the league this season.
The first half was a somewhat scrappy and stop-start affair, with Villa taking an early lead through Jacob Ramsey, who slotted it well into the bottom right corner in the 8th minute.
However, West Ham showed good fight and courage in response to the opener which perhaps wouldn’t have been the case earlier on this season, keeping the score at just 1-0 at half-time.
West Ham continued to put in a brave performance in the second half, not shying away from attacking the Villa back line, and this was rewarded with an equaliser, when a delightful Edson Alvarez cross was met by Emerson, who nodded it home to level things up for the Hammers.
Potter’s West Ham shows confidence
The attitude after the equaliser is what will put a smile on many West Ham fans’ faces, with the visitors not settling for a draw and instead pushing for a second which they came close to doing on numerous occasions.
Another positive that came out of the game for West Ham was 19-year-old Ollie Scarles coming off the bench once more, making his sixth first-team appearance this season and looking very comfortable in the back line, which will undoubtedly give Potter some food for thought when selecting his team for Chelsea in just over a week’s time.
Paqueta, who put in an inspiring performance throughout the game, thought he had snatched a victory in the dying moments when he poked the ball into an empty net, only to be denied by the linesman’s flag who rightly called Tomas Soucek offside in the lead up to the goal.
The Hammers will see a point as a positive result with the injury crisis they currently face, especially against a team who possess the attacking quality of Jhon Duran and Ollie Watkins, and it will leave many fans excited by what the manager can produce in the coming games, especially with the likes of Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville close to making a return to the squad.